ESL 546 Topic 4 DQ 1
Describe the rights of parents/guardians regarding ELL services (i.e., program placement, assessment). What are some strategies for informing families of ELLs of their rights? To what degree do you think schools and teachers are ethically responsible for ensuring parents/guardians of ELLs fully understand their rights, including when the language and culture of the American school system is unfamiliar to them?
Parents and guardians should know the school provides instruction to students who need help learning the English language. Parents must be informed within the first month of school, that their child have been referred for placement in an English language program. This communication should be made in the parents’ home language. It must be communicated to parents:
Why the child was recommended for the program
The student’s English proficiency level
Recommendations for the student
Program expectations
Students expected program completion date
(Colorîn Colorado, 2019)
To effectively communicate with families of ELL students, communication should be in their home language, with all written communication translated, and having bilingual contact person
from the school for parents to speak with. To allow families to support their students’ education, they need to have a good understanding of how the school system works. School staff should provide parents information on area agencies that will support them during their child’s educational journey. Colorin Colorado (2019). Your rights as a Parent of a Public-School Student. Retrieved from https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/your-rights-parent-public-school-student
Colorin Colorado (2019). How to Reach Out to Parents of ELLs. Retrieved from https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/how-reach-out-parents-ells
